OutKast's Genre:

Alternative Rap, Southern Rap, Dirty South, Rap, Pop-Rap

Biography

OutKast's blend of gritty Southern soul, fluid raps, and the low-slung funk of their Organized Noize production crew epitomized the Atlanta wing of hip-hop's rising force, the Dirty South, during the mid to late '90s. Along with Goodie Mob, OutKast took Southern hip-hop in bold and innovative directions: less reliance on aggression, more positivity and melody, thicker arrangements, and intricate lyrics. After Dré and Big Boi hit number one on the rap charts with their first single, "Player's Ball," the duo embarked on a run of platinum albums spiked with several hit singles, enjoying numerous critical accolades in addition to their commercial success.André Benjamin (Dré) and Antwan Patton (Big Boi) attended the same high school in the Atlanta borough of East Point, and several lyrical battles made each gain respect for the other's skills. They formed OutKast and were pursued by Organized Noize Productions, hitmakers for TLC and Xscape. Signed to Antonio "L.A." Reid and Babyface's local LaFace label just after high school, OutKast recorded and released "Player's Ball," then watched the single rise to number one on the rap chart. It slipped from the top spot only after six weeks, was certified gold, and created a buzz for a full-length release. That album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, hit the Top 20 in 1994 and was certified platinum by the end of the year. Dré and Big Boi also won Best New Rap Group of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards. OutKast returned with a new album in 1996, releasing ATLiens that August; it hit number two and went platinum with help from the gold-selling single "Elevators (Me & You)" (number 12 pop, number one rap), as well as the Top 40 title track. Aquemini followed in 1998, also hitting number two and going double platinum. There were no huge hit singles this time around, but critics lavishly praised the album's unified, progressive vision, hailing it as a great leap forward and including it on many year-end polls. Unfortunately, in a somewhat bizarre turn of events, OutKast was sued over the album's lead single, "Rosa Parks," by none other than the civil rights pioneer herself, who claimed that the group had unlawfully appropriated her name to promote their music, also objecting to some of the song's language. The initial court decision dismissed the suit in late 1999. (The Supreme Court later allowed the lawsuit to proceed; the two parties eventually reached a settlement.) Dré modified his name to André 3000 before the group issued its hotly anticipated fourth album, Stankonia, in late 2000. Riding the momentum of uniformly excellent reviews and the stellar singles "B.O.B." and "Ms. Jackson," Stankonia debuted at number two and went triple platinum in just a few months; meanwhile, "Ms. Jackson" became their first number one pop single the following February. Both of those major singles and most of the album material -- all but three contributions from Organized Noize, in fact -- were produced by a trio dubbed Earthtone III (aka André 3000, Big Boi, and David "Mr. DJ" Sheats).2003's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album, debuted at number one and spawned a pair of number one singles: the Dré-fronted "Hey Ya" and the Big Boi-fronted "The Way You Move." Speakerboxxx, more true to OutKast's past, could have been issued as a Big Boi solo album, while The Love Below, a diverse and playful affair, could have been an André 3000 release. Regardless of its dual nature, the set won the 2004 Grammy for Album of the Year. As breakup rumors continued to swirl, the duo returned with the feature film Idlewild -- a musical set in the Prohibition-era South -- and an extremely eclectic soundtrack billed as a proper OutKast album. Big Boi issued a solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty in 2010, while André 3000 produced and/or appeared on a series of tracks by the likes of John Legend ("Green Light"), Beyoncé ("Party"), Lloyd ("Dedication to My Ex [Miss That])," and Young Jeezy ("I Do"). ~ John Bush

AOL Radio Stations OutKast is Featured on (10)

Hoodie Allen quit his job at Google to pursue a career in hip hop and it paid off HUGE: thanks to his massive fan base, the Hoodie Mob, his first studio album, 2014’s “People Keep Talking,” had a top ten debut. Hoodie Allen sat down with us to create a radio station featuring his favorite artists, stories, and songs. From Beastie Boys to Ed Sheeran to Outkast, this is an exclusive look into what Hoodie loves to listen to: it's "I Am The DJ" on Slacker.

Join your host Raymond T for Classic Hip Hop A to Z: an alphabetical deep dive into the early days of hip hop. From “The Chronic” to Kanye, Def Jam to N.W.A, and Fab 5 Freddy to the Wu-Tang Clan, you’ll hear the songs that shaped the world of hip hop as we know it today.

We went through the Slacker library and found great songs that made their mark on the world, but have faded away in time. Great Songs You Forgot on Slacker Radio includes forgotten gems from Radiohead, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and many more.

'90s Hip Hop is dedicated to the era when Hip Hop became a worldwide music revolution. You'll hear the bling-bling sounds of the South, the West Coast G-Funk and the hardcore East Coast rhymes. Artists include everything from the one hit wonders to the genre-defining greats like The Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, Nas, Dr. Dre and many more.

On paper, Drake sounds like a very unlikely hip-hop star. Born Aubrey Drake Graham to a Jewish family in suburban Toronto in 1986, Drake was as a successful actor on the TV series, ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation.’ After releasing mixtapes that caught the attention of Lil Wayne, Drake’s career only blew up from there. These are Drake’s biggest hits and deep cuts, along with songs from his influences, collaborators -- and even a very famous girlfriend. This is Drake: DNA.

Your curators have assembled the ultimate list of songs about the season, summertime hits, and the music that just FEELS like that magical stretch of time between school years when you did nothing but soak up the sun. These are the Top 55 Songs of Summer.

The Fugees translated an intriguing blend of jazz-rap, R&B, and reggae into huge success during the mid-'90s, when the trio's sophomore album The Score hit number one on the pop charts and sold over five million copies.

Once one of the leading rappers on Master P's No Limit record label, Mystikal quickly evolved beyond the label's clichéd thug trappings and found himself one of the Dirty South's most recognized rappers, alongside the likes of Juvenile and Ludacris.

Born Warren Griffin III, Warren G exploded out of the burgeoning Long Beach rap scene in 1994 with the smash single "Regulate," a duet with longtime friend Nate Dogg, and its accompanying album, Regulate.

Naughty by Nature pulled off the neat trick of landing big, instantly catchy anthems on the pop charts while maintaining their street-level credibility among the hardcore rap faithful; one of the first groups to successfully perform such a balancing act.

The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor, Busta Rhymes formed Leaders of the New School in 1990 and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check.